GCC of Global Patent GO——Introduction to Patent Application in Gulf Arab Countries

Arabian Tower of Babel GCC

According to a story in the Old Testament, human beings only spoke one language before. After the great flood, human beings migrated from the east to the Shinar area, and decided to build a city and a tower "Babel" here, ( Babel: the meaning of the gate of God), God saw this and disrupted human language, making it impossible for humans in different places to understand each other's language. GCC, Gulf Cooperation Council, English: Gulf Cooperation Council, referred to as "GCC", must be the Tower of Babel established in the Middle East. A cooperative organization like GCC can at least have a place to coordinate the tension between each other.
GCC was established in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on May 25, 1981. It is headquartered in Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. Its members include: United Arab Emirates, Oman, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. The largest commodity market and the most important commodity distribution center. The original intention of GCC was to promote scientific and technical collaboration among member countries, and to encourage and develop local technologies. After all, GCC member countries are too rich, and they don’t have the reputation of famous families without technology.

GCC established the GCC Patent Office in 1992, and officially accepted patent applications in August 1998. GCC joined the TRIPS agreement on August 16, 2000, and is still one of the TRIPS member countries. The first patent granted by the GCC took effect in 2002 in 6 member states simultaneously. According to the patent law and implementation rules of the GCC, the GCC is only responsible for patent examination and granted, and disputes related to patent infringement are still handled by the competent authorities of each member state. According to the patent law of the GCC, as long as the patent applicant submits a patent application to the GCC Patent Office, the patent granted can be automatically effective in all GCC member states.

On January 6, 2021, the GCC held a meeting to revise the GCC Patent Law and stop accepting new patent applications from January 6. The cessation of GCC patents has come as a surprise to many applicants thinking of filing patents in the Middle East. After a year, finally there is good news. The GCC will start accepting patent applications again from February 1, 2022. The newly revised Patent Law will adopt a system similar to the European patent system, with one application, centralized trial, and request for individual entry into force. The GCC Patent Office must obtain the consent of the member states before accepting the patent application of the designated country; the patent granted must also be approved by the GCC member states, and the patent right is only valid in the country. All patents granted before the revision of the GCC Patent Law will continue to be valid in all member states during the protection period. The GCC Patent Office repositions itself as a technical examination unit shared by all countries.

Today we will introduce the patent system of GCC.

Introduction to GCC patent system

1. GCC patent application submission language:

Arabic

2. GCC patent protection type:

Invention (If you need to apply for a utility model or design, you need to apply separately to each country)

3. Paths for Chinese applicants to apply for patents with GCC:

Paris Convention

4. Review unit:

The Patent Office of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCCPO), the GCC Patent Office respects the priority provisions of the Paris Convention. GCC applications can claim priority to the earlier convention application, which is equivalent to GCC being a member of the Paris Convention, but the PCT application cannot be GCC The Patent Office acts as a designated Office.

5. submit application:

(1) Time limit requirement: 12 months from the earliest priority date;
(2) Submitting the application: Electronic submission can be made online;
(3) Official language: Arabic. If submitted in English, an Arabic translation must be submitted;

6. Review process:

Formal review: If the formal review finds that the documents are not complete, GCCPO will notify the applicant by registered mail and require the applicant to complete the application materials within 3 months from the date of receipt of the notification, otherwise the application will be invalid.
Substantive examination: After the application has passed the formality examination, GCCPO will estimate the cost of substantive examination based on the evaluation study. The GCCPO notifies the applicant by registered mail to pay the substantive examination fee within 3 months from the date of receipt of the notification. If the applicant pays the fee within the specified time limit, GCCPO will conduct a substantive examination in person, or submit it to an approved review agency for substantive examination. During the review process, the applicant shall submit an application for amending documents to the GCCPO based on the review opinions within 3 months from the date of receipt of the review opinions. You can apply for examination up to three times, and at the third examination, if the examiner finds that the application still does not meet the conditions for granting a patent, the application will be rejected.
Publication: After the application passes the substantive examination, the GCCPO will issue a decision to grant the patent right and publish the patent application in the Patent Gazette.
Authorization: After the application has passed the substantive examination, the GCCPO will notify the applicant to pay the disclosure and granted fees. The applicant should pay the fee within 3 months from the date of receipt of the notification. If the applicant fails to pay the publication and grant fees including late fees within 3 months from the due date, the application will be deemed invalid.
Opposition: 3 months from the date of granted is the opposition period, and anyone can raise an opposition to the invention patent.
Certificate: If no objection is lodged with the Board of Appeal within 3 months from the date of publication of the patent, the patent will be included in the register and licensed to the applicant. GCCPO will announce the granted patent in the Patent Gazette, and the patent certificate will be mailed to the right holder within 3 months from the date of announcement.

Features of GCC patents

1. Infringement Remedies: The GCC has promulgated regulations to prohibit infringement of patents granted by the Patent Office. According to the relevant GCC regulations, each member state may pursue criminal or civil liability for all infringements, or both;

2. Compulsory licensing of patents: The patent owner shall make full use of the patented invention in GCC member states within 3 years from the date of patent grant. If it is not fully utilized before the specified grace period expires, the GCCPO Council will grant a compulsory license as the case may be.

Friendliness to Chinese applicants:

★★

Gold content of patent rights:

★★

The degree of perfection of the rights protection mechanism:

★★